


Imperfectly Magical: And MCYT Story

by LikeCanYouSeriouslyLetMeLive



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Clay | Dream & Technoblade Friendship (Video Blogging RPF), Hogsmeade, Hogwa - Freeform, Hogwarts, Light Angst, Magic, Minecraft, Older Sibling Wilbur Soot, Platonic Relationships, Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, mcyt - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:48:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28906605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LikeCanYouSeriouslyLetMeLive/pseuds/LikeCanYouSeriouslyLetMeLive
Summary: With the wizards of Europe and America on the verge of war, schools Ilvermorny and Hogwarts come to together for the Triwizard Tournament. But all is not as it seems. A secret class of political weapons and a rocky past fo blood and loss slowly turn the event from an olive branch to a declaration of war.RELATIONSHIPS LISTED ARE STRICTLY PLATONIC!
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity & Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Alexis | Quackity & Phil Watson, Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Jschlatt & Wilbur Soot, Clay | Dream & Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Jschlatt & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Jschlatt & Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Zak Ahmed & Antfrost & Darryl Noveschosch & Sam | Awesamdude
Comments: 11
Kudos: 85





	1. Character Index

**Wizard AU**

  * Europe



Eret- Ravenclaw Prefect (year 7) (half-veela) (half pure-blood)

Tubbo- Slytherin (year 5) (half-blood)

Fundy- Gryffindor Prefect (year 7) (pure-blood)

Tommy- Gryffindoor (year 5) (muggle-born)

George- transfer student to Ilvermorney (Horned Serpent Class Head, 12th grade) (pure-blood)

Wilbur- Slytheryn Prefect (year 7) (pure-blood)

Philza- Headmaster of Hogwarts School (raven animagus) (pure-blood)

Niki- Hufflepuff Prefect (year 7) (half-blood)

Jack Manifold- Ravenclaw (year 7) (muggle-born)

Vikkstar- Minister of Magic (half-blood)

Lazarbeam- Head of Department of International Cooperation (pure-blood)

  * America



Dream- Wampus (offered Horned Serpent) (12th grade) (Metamorphmagus) (pure-blood)

Bad- Headmaster of Ilvermorny (half-vampire) (half Nomag-born)

Skeppy- Charms Teacher (half-blood)

Sapnap- Thunderbird (12th grade) (half-blood)

Callahan- Pukwudgie (12th grade)

Sam- Horned Serpent Class Head (12th grade) (pure-blood)

Punz- Wampus (12th grade) (Nomag-born)

Purpled- Wampus (9th grade) (half-blood)

Schlatt- President of Magical Congress (ram animagus) (pure-blood)

Conner- Cabinet member (pure-blood)

Quackity- Vice President (pure-blood)

Karl- Pukwudgie House Head (12th grade) (Nomag-born)

Hbomb- Thunderbird (11th grade) (half-blood)

Technoblade- Wampus Class Head (offered all houses) (12th grade) (pig animagus and half-vampire) (half pure-blood)

Antfrost- Horned Serpent (12th grade) (cat animagus) (Nomag-born)

Puffy- Horned Serpent (12th grade) (half-blood)

Ranboo- Horned Serpent (10th grade) (Enderman and Ghast animagus) (pure-blood)

Ari X- Ilvermorny Defensive Spells Teacher (Legilimens) (Dove animagus) (pure-blood)

Extra Info: There will be nos shipping in this, only platonic friendships. The character of Ari X is my own and is basically a filler for places in the story that any MCYT characters do not fit- though she will have an established story and arc like everyone else because it’d be pretty boring if she didn’t. Happy Reading.


	2. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A letter, a politician, and a series of unfortunate events...

_ Students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have been formally invited to join the students of Ilvermorny to compete in the Triwizard Tournament hosted in Maine. I hope this will ease tensions between students and our two nations. _

_ Sincerely,  
_ _ Jonathan Schlatt & Badboyhalo _

“He’s got to be joking.” Vikkstar said as Philza presented the letter to him. “On the verge of war between us and he wants to play house with a tournament that can result in death?”

“It might be wize to go.” Philza said, to which Vik raised an eyebrow. “My sources have told me the senior class of Ilvermorney is very strong. It may be wise to scope out the possibilities before they become enemies.”

“I’m not going to ask about how you gain your information, but I will trust you on this one.” Vik replied. “Who will you take to America?”

“7th years and a few 5th years, and, of course, the cup.” Phil replied. “I’ll keep them safe Vik, I promise.”

“Take some dementors with you as well. You can control them better than anyone anyways.” Vikkstar replied. Philza nodded, spreading his wings out before transforming into his animagus form, a raven, and flying out of the room.

__________________

“How can you be so sure they’ll come? Philza and Vikkstar aren’t fools.” Quackity asked the horned man.

“Oh I’m counting on them being smart about this.” Schatt replied. “How is the advanced section doing?”

“As per usual there’s standouts like Technoblade and Dream. Technoblade has a wide skill set, as shown from all houses accepting him. Dream’s abilities as a metamorphmagus are incredible, he’s working on a dragon right now.” Quackity read from Ari’s letter. “Other interesting cases are Sapnap, Punz, and Ranboo. Sapnap has a nearly unnatural affinity for pyromancy, Punz has a sense of loyalty that could prove useful, and Ranboo- regardless of a fractured mind- can be quite exceptional when he puts his mind to it. The class is proving quite promising.” 

“Good, is there anything about likely choices for the tournament?” Schlatt asked. Quackity scanned through the long paper.

“Yes, based on past statistics it’s likely Dream and Technoblade” Quackity continued to read, “Each share the ability to adapt to a situation exceptionally well and also are found to be very entertaining as well which is good for marketing.” Schlatt just smiled.

“This’ll be fun.” 


	3. Chapter1: Ms. Ari X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new teacher, a dangerous class, and a mind full of secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave constructive criticism

Whispers spread fast across Ilvermorny. President Schlatt had entered the school with his vice and another woman in tow. Bad had met them, although rather begrudgingly as Skeppy commented, and the teacher for Defensive Spells and Hexes was promptly removed and replaced. Letters were dispatched and a select few students were invited to a new class, Defense Against the Dark Arts.

“You got one too?” Dream asked Sapnap and Punz to which the both nodded yes. George hadn’t received one and was a bit peeved. “In fairness George, only one horned serpent got one.”

“Ranboo isn’t even in his final year!” George growled back. “How did a 10th grader beat me out?”

“I don’t know. Word is its three Wampuses, me, Punz, and Technoblade, one Serpent being Ranboo, and one Thunderbird being Sapnap.” Dream recapped to the rest.

“Hbomb also made it from the Thunderbirds.” Sapnap added. 

“I got one too and so did Ant.” Sam said from across the hall, walking towards the group. “That makes three Horned Serpents.” The conversation ended when the bell rang. Dream, Sapnap, Punz, and Sam began to walk into their new mysterious class- meeting Ant and Ranboo on the way as well.

At the door to the classroom was President Schlatt, ready to shake hands with each student who entered. Inside, Techno was already standing to one side of the room, and everyone was instructed to go to one side or the other. There were no desks to be found, or any schooling materials at all, just a simple chalkboard at the end of the room.

Dream filed in next to Techno on the right along with Sapnap and Punz, and Sam, Ranboo, and Ant stood on the left side across from their classmates.

“Now I’m sure all of you are wondering why you are here.” Schlatt began to speak, shutting the door. “You are here because you were specially selected by the school for your unique gifts that can aid our country in a time of turmoil.”

Murmurs came from the small room. Whispers between friends about what could be going on. Everyone knew they were on the verge of war with the European sect of (specifically British) wizards. However, this seemed a bit extreme.

“You all will be trained to defend yourselves against other wizards, similar to how they do at Hogwarts, and you are all being gifted positions as aurors in our Congress that I highly recommend you take.” Schlatt continued. Everyone knew it wasn’t really a recommendation- more of a glorified draft. “Anyways, I think it’s time to meet your teacher.”

The clicking of high-heeled boots sounded from the hallway and a stout woman appeared in the door wearing a dark black robe. Her hair was bright white, in stark contrast to her chocolate brown skin. Beautiful feathered wings protruded from her back and robes to circle around her like a halo. 

Everyone knew the woman’s name. It was Ari X. A known terrorist, animagus, and criminal who should be on death row at the moment, not standing in front of them. She’d been caught blowing up Gringotts bank and deported back to 

“I’m sure you have all heard of Ari X, and what she has done to some of our neighboring nations.” Schlatt continued, “However, I feel her talents are of use elsewhere, under supervision of course. Ari will be teaching you how to properly duel, new spells, and how to defend yourself from threats. If there aren’t any questions, I will be taking my leave.” After a moment of silence Schlatt stepped out of the room leaving them alone with Ari.

“Alright, you know who I am.” Ari began. “And I’ll be honest I’ve never taught a class before in my life, but when an old friend offers you a job instead of an execution you take it. Anyways let’s get some things straight. I know all about you and you don’t need to know anything about me. I want to meet with each of you individually first to see your skill. Antfrost you’re first. The rest of you can just fuck around I don’t care.” Everyone began to group up and talk whilst taking nervous glances over at Ant. 

“Why would President Schlatt be friends with a terrorist?” Sapnap whispered to Dream and Punz.

“She wasn’t born a criminal dumbass. They probably just knew each other before.” Punz retorted. It put an end to the question, but Dream wasn’t so certain that was the whole story. J. Schlatt was a bit of a controversial figure with a very simple philosophy. ‘I was given the right to rule, and I will rule until that right is taken’.

“Ranboo.” Ari said as Ant walked away towards his friends.

“What happened?” Sapnap asked eagerly.

“She’s a legilimens. That’s why we weren’t speaking.” A mind reader? Schlatt had brought a mind reader to the school? This was insane. “I know a bit of Occlumency, but it wasn’t even relevant to her. I don’t think she even noticed. It’s like she looks at you and she knows without even having to press. If I didn’t know any better I’d have no clue she was there.” 

“Awesam.” Ari’s voice echoed again as Ranboo walked back, obviously a bit shaken. Ant tried to comfort his younger housemate

“You alright kid?” Techno spoke up, finally looking up from his book and joining the group. Ranboo just shook his head and mumbled out something about not liking her inside his head.

“Punz.”

“What’s going on Sam?” Dream asked, eyeing Punz and Ari’s meeting.

“She’s good. Like really good.” Sam said, “I wanna know how she does it.” He seemed almost excited. Sam was one of the only two of the proficient in Occlumency- the other being Techno- and he was known to be better than the animagus too. Sam was a decent Legilimens as well, but not as good as Techno or Dream and seemed to be excited to learn something from Ari.

“Sapnap.” 

“Damn, you know I’ve been called a mudblood and all other types of shit before, but I’d never thought it would happen inside my head.” Punz commented, a bit annoyed about the situation- although it wasn’t unexpected that Schlatt’s choice of teacher was as discriminatory as he was.

“Dream.”

Dream walked over to the woman cautiously. He could already sense a presence in his own mind and knew there was pretty much only one thing he could do. Attack back and reach into her mind to put her on the defense. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He focused on Ari’s presence in his mind, using it as a pathway towards her own ideas.

It was mostly blank, but he could see a few memories in flashes. They were very painful, Dream could feel it. Wands pointing at him as he looked through her eyes. ‘Crucio’ whispered over and over again. He wanted to know more, to underst-

“Do you really want to go deeper? My pain will become your pain.” Ari’s voice echoed. Of course. She was letting him in, doctoring what he saw. Dream wasn’t having it, continuing to push further. The torment began as small tinglings up his spine and at his fingertips, but it began to grow. He couldn’t tell if the memories were yelling or it was his own voice. He wanted out, wanted to withdraw, but the door had been closed. Ari had locked him.

“Please let me out.” Dream begged. He could see Ari’s eyes looking at him as he ventured through the painful memories.

“You chose this, face the consequences.” Ari replied.

“Dream, Dream, DREAM!” Dream’s eye snapped open to the sound of Sapnap yelling. He was on the floor now, unsure of how he got there. A sigh of relief escaped Dream’s lips as the pain left him. Sapnap was kneeling over him and Punz had his wand trained on Ari.

“What did you do to him!” Punz yelled at their ‘teacher’.

“What happened.” Dream asked groggily.

“You were yelling and screaming and convulsing and everything. We kept trying to wake you and it didn’t work and th-” Sapnap began.

“And then I let you out because you were giving me a headache.” Ari interrupted, disregarding Punz’s wand in her face. “Honestly I don’t know what you expected. I warned you not to keep going in but you decided to be a reckless idiot.”

“You- I-!” Sapnap sputtered, but Dream placed a hand on his shoulder as he slowly got up.

“It’s fine Sapnap, I’m fine.” Dream said calmly. “She warned me and I didn’t listen.”

“Finally some maturity.” Ari commented, “Anyways we have Technoblade last.” Ari’s meeting with the hybrid took half an hour, both fighting for control. Ari ended up winning, but applauded the student for a job well done, admitting he’d be fine against most wizards.

“Anyways, I’m aware we have some animagus in the classroom, so I’d like to see that at play.” Antfrost and Techno were able to transform almost immediately into a cat and boar respectively. “Dream, you’re a metamorphmagus yes?”

“Yeah.” Dream replied. He knew it was a gift to be able to transform into anything, but honestly he wasn’t very good at it.

“Let’s see a slug, then a horse, and then a dove.” Ari said, watching the student expectantly. The first one was simple enough, Dream’s body twisting into a black slug with lime green patterning. The horse was a bit harder for sure- taking him a whole minute to become a black horse with lime green eyes.

“Well, any day now please?” Ari said, watching him closely. “Or are you not proficient enough to do three simple changes?” Dream bowed his head in defeat, transforming back into a human.

“A bit disappointing.” Ari said, looking over to Ranboo who hadn’t even transformed yet. “Jesus kid, you gonna look at the floor all day? Prove to me you aren’t a waste of talent.” Ranboo nodded slightly, his arms beginning to lengthen and body transforming into an Endermen. Ari then, of course, proceeded to look the creature directly in the eyes to piss it off.

“If you lose control, there will be consequences.” Ari said coldly.

“Like she could do any better.” Punz murmured to Sapnap who stifled a bit of laughter.

“I could do better.” Ari said without turning around. “I would like nothing more than to wipe those dumb grins off your faces by killing you both, but here I am.” Normally most students would laugh it off, but something told the two to take Ari’s words seriously.

“Alright, since some of you fail to realize my expectations, I’ll give a demonstration.” Ari said, wings spreading out, flexing the length of the room. In a snap she had morphed into a beautiful white dove. She flew to the window and returned to her human form there. Repeating the steps six times at various locations. The sixth time she was a dove she grew larger, to about the size of a thunderbird, before returning as a human again.

“Our time is nearly up for today- Ranboo you can transform back- so I’ll leave you with some things to practice.” Ari said. “Now I don’t give two shitsa about you being perfect little well rounded angels, so I want you to improve what you’re good at. Antfrost work on your transformations and stealth. Try sneaking around the castle after hours and see if you get caught- I’ll be looking. Ranboo I want to see less hesitation and quicker, more controlled transforming. Awesam study up and put your intellect to good use rather than your physicality. Punz continue training your offense- it will be your best defense too. Sapnap I want hotter fire, go out to the snow atop the mountain and make it in the cold to train up. Dream work on all sides of combat- I know you can handle it. Technoblade get some charisma- there’s more to being an auror than strength and intelligence. You need to learn to put people at ease.” With that Ari walked out, slamming the door behind her.


	4. Chapter 2: Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A way out, a jealous friend, and a new start

_ “Is this car full?” A blond haired boy peered in. There were only two people in there, so there was room, but the boy didn’t want to intrude. _

_ “Yeah sure, we can make room- right Connor.” the other boys nodded and the blond stepped into the car. _

_ “So what’s your name?” _

“Look Bad, I’m not gonna waste your time with this.” Skeppy said to his close friend. “I don’t like that Ari is here, and something needs to be done to keep her in line.” 

“Skeppy I wish there was something I could do, but I can’t” Bad replied. “If I kick up too much of a fuss Schlatt’ll just replace me with his own puppet. It’s best to just let this happen for now so we still have the ability to protect these students.”

“I see where you’re coming from Bad, but really some of them might really get hurt.” Skeppy argued, “Like Ranboo has a lot of trauma tied to his abilities that needs to be considered. Techno is half-vampire, and in such an aggressive class they could lose control. If she pushes Dream too far he might get stuck in between transformations.” 

“I know Skeppy, I know.” Bad replied, “But going in brazenly isn’t going to help anyone. Just sit back for a bit and let me handle this please.

_ “Fine.” _

“Hey Dream, Techno wants to meet with us two.” Punz said to Dream while he and George were lounging around in a multi-house commons. George just scoffed. Of course Techno wanted to meet with Dream and Punz. Because they were  _ so _ special.

“It's fine George. Techno’s the 12th year head of class, he probably just has to check in cause Mr. Halo told him to.” Dream siad, trying to take his friend’s mind away from the idea that everyone else was a part of this special course and George wasn’t/

“Yeah whatever. Just don’t be late for dinner cause I’m not saving seats for the third time this week.” George grumbled, returning to Mr. Skeppy’s charm homework. Punz and Dream headed up to the Wampus common room. Unlike Hogwarts commons, they weren’t hidden behind things. Ilvermorney was known for being more progressive, and promoted community over competition. It was a good thing in Dream’s opinion, but he knew a lot of conservative families chose to send their kids overseas to Hogwarts for a ‘proper education’. 

“Thanks for meetin’ with me.” Techno said. He was easily recognizable in the commons. The long pink hair and boar ears that poke out from the side of his head made him quite noticeable- not to mention the vampire fangs. Most of the 6th years (I’m saying Ilvermorney starts in middle school so 6th grade) were pretty terrified of him, but people in the animagus’s year knew full well that the guy was a bit shy himself and wasn’t especially confrontational either. “Let’s head up to the top tower for some privacy.”

Ilvermorney had many tall spires, and four of them were owned by one house respectively. They climbed up the stairs quickly. It began to get colder as they climbed Ilvermorny's mountainous location.

“Look I’m gonna put this to you straight.” Techno said, turning to them as the three finally reached the top. “I can get you out of this class if you really want, but I wanted to ask first because it’s goin’ to be a pain and I don’t want to have to do it for no reason. The only reason I’m even sayin’ I can get you out is cause Hbomb missed once and Ari banned him from the class entirely so it’s possible to escape.” 

“I want to stay in.” Punz’s quick answer caught Dream off guard. “I want to show that teacher that I can be just as strong as everyone else without having to be some pure-blood!” 

“Hey Punz relax.” Dream said, giving his friend a gentle nudge. “No need to let her pull your strings too much alright? I also want to stay too. I think I really can improve in that class.”

“Alright. I have to tell you you can come and talk to me whenever since I'm class head or whatever, but we all know that’s a lie” Techno grumbled, turning to walk down the stairs. “So, don’t bother me later cause I gave you and out.”’

_ “Phi- uh Philza, Phil for short.” The young blonde stumbled over his words.  _

_ “Cool I’m Schlatt- J. Schlatt- and this is Connor.” the other replied. The blonde looked at the two boys. The one called Schlatt had two small ram horns protruding from his head whilst the other looked fairly normal. _

_ “Woah, you’ve got some cool wings.” Schlatt said, fingers lightly grazing the gray and black feathers. _

_ “Oh, uh thanks. You two aren’t from here are you?”  _

_ “Nope.” Connor replied. “We’re both American, but our parents didn’t like how out of hand Ilvermorney was getting so they sent us here.” So they were pure-blood exchange students, Philza thought. Kids whose parents didn’t like how much more progressive Ilvermorney was. He was knocked form hsi thoughts when the train jolted to a halt. _

_ “Well, see you later Philza. Maybe we’ll get sorted together.” _

Phil looked out upon the sea of students that sat at each of their tables. Eyes scanning across from red to yellow to blue to green. It caused him to reflect back a bit. When Philza first came to Hogwarts he wanted to change things. He wanted to make it more open to people, to get more progressive. But, as Phil soon found out, the board wasn’t going to support the idea at all. And, the thing that reminded the man of this, the Gryffindor and Slytherin house tables still sat on opposite sides of the room.

It was such a simple detail, but Philza hated it. It was what Hogwarts seemed to do a lot. Adjust to make problems less noticeable rather than actually solving them. Philza had wanted to change that, he’d wanted to change a lot of things. Make them more safe and help the students. And yet here he stood getting ready to draft some kids to go to America and fight an imaginary war. 

“As many of you know, we have been invited to America to compete in a Triwizard Tournament alongside students of Ilvermorny.” Philza began. “But, because of safety issues, there will only be a few select students going. These student’s parents have agreed to this and they have been made aware of the risks. They have been selected for their diversity in talent and comradery together considering it is unlikely that they will be spending much time apart.” Philza looked out on the crowd of students. Most probably already knew Phil’z picks anyways.

“Wilbur Soot from Slytherin House, Tommy from Gryffindor House, Tubbo from Slytherin House, Eret from Ravenclaw House, Fundy from Gryffindor House, and Nihachu from Hufflepuff House, Jack Manifold from Ravenclaw House. These students will be leaving the day after tomorrow and will continue classes at Ilvermorny. That is all, have a lovely feast.” Philza sat down at the long table at the head of the room and began to eat, memories still plaguing his mind.

_ “Jonathan Schlatt… SLYTHERIN!” Schlatt grinned before sitting down at the table to the far left, looking over at his new friend. Connor had already been sorted into Slytherin with Schlatt, and now it was up to the winged blond. He was a nice guy- it’d be a shame if they couldn’t be friends anymore. _

_ “Philza Minecraft… hmm very interesting.” the hat murmured. “Quite wise, quite wise indeed. But also kind, one with heart. You’re one to act too, not stand by. But always planning, always plotting. Smart but with a goal. Ambitious as a Ravenclaw, but I’d say… SLYTHERIN!”  _

_ Philza walked down from the hall slowly. They’d all been staring at him for so long he’d wanted to disappear. His wings now curled around him. He sat next to Schlatt and Connor quietly, looking down at the wooden table. _

_ “Hey cheer up buddy, you’ve got the best house already and you’ve got friends. Let’s have some fun!” Philza looked up at Schlatt. The boy was so upfront and forwards about everything. Maybe one day he’d be like that too. _

Ari’s hand krept to her back, running over her wings and pulling back to look at red tipped fingers. She was in the shower and had looked down and saw red there too. It wasn’t a new occurrence. As nomag science developed, magic had developed with it. There had been an epidemic of magical experimentation tied with genetic experimentation. What had resulted were people like Ari and Schlatt. Animagus magic mixed with genetic experiments had made hybrid people with exceptional animagus abilities at the cost of not being able to get rid of some of those features in their human form.

From what Ari knew, Schlatt’s mother was the result of an experiment and not himself, so he didn’t have any problems. But Ari, however, knew exactly what that was like. She remembered the white rooms and searing pain as wings were branded into her back forever, and Ari didn’t even have it worse either. There were the combination experiments that made hybrids like Ranboo. Ari could tell he’d seen things, but knew the only way to not be afraid of what he was was going to be to control it.

She grabbed a towel and wiped the blood off of her wings with a towel, lightly flexing them and flicking the water and blood off. She looked back in the mirror watching the blood drip from where her wings met her human skin. It began to dry up and flake off, leaving a mess around the room. A flick of her wand made the dust float up and into the trash. Ari grabbed a rove, wrapping it around her before laying in her bed in the next room over. She began to pick at the white feathers, setting them straight and picking out any dust and dirt caught in them. It’s been months since she’d done it, and she could clearly see a face of disappointment from an old friend pop up in her head.

_ Schlatt yanked Philza across Hogsmeade, arm slinging around the winged boy as they ran around the town.  _

_ “The butter beer is gonna sell out Phil!” Schlatt yelled, continuing to drag his friend around as the other just giggled at his friend’s determination. As the blond looked around something- or rather someone caught his eye.  _

_ In a back alley between one of the shops there was a small ball of feathers snacking on scraps and looking out at the robed students. Wings glowing white in the pearlescent snow. _


	5. Chapter 3: Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A broken girl, a sad ending, and a traveler's lament

_ “Hey Schlatt go on ahead, I just… saw something.” Phil murmured. Schlatt gave him a weird look, but went on to get the butter beer. Phil approached the alleyway, green robes swirling around in the wintery breeze. It was cold outside, but it never seemed to bother the boy much at all. He walked up to the girl with bright white wings curled up against the stone wall of one of the shops. _

_ “Hey… can I talk to you?” Philza said softly. The girl didn’t make any move to acknowledge his presence. He could see drops of red around her and began to wonder who exactly she was. _

_ “Don’t bother, kid.” another occupant of the alley murmured to Phil. “I haven’t heard that one talk at all since she got here.” _

_ “Who are you?” Phil asked, looking over to see an older woman with peculiar golden wolven ears and tail. _

_ “Call me False. Lotta less fortunate people end up here out of a home. Me and some of the others look after things.” False replied. “You can call us Hermits. That one’s been here for about two years. She doesn’t talk but she’s warmed up to some of us. Likes Grian’s more upbeat nature. What do you want with her.” It was clear False wasn’t exactly happy about Phil’s presence, but was willing to give him a chance at the very least. _

_ “I’ve just never seen anyone else like me.” Philza replied, spreading his wings out, tips curling around as they hid the stone sides of the alleyway. It blocked out some of the light, creating an angelic silhouette within the alleyway. The girl looked up at him for the first time, dark brown eyes looking up at him. Her hand reached out slowly towards the tips, fingers running down the grey tips of his black feathers. Her own wings began to expand too, seemingly without her noticing. They were a blinding white with grey dapples close to their base. She had a pair of old and damaged looking robes overtop of some muggle looking clothes. He could see the blood had been dripping from the base of her wings, the fishers where they connected to her skin a sensitive red. _

_ “Can I- can I heal you?” Philza asked softly. He’d always been efficient at healing people after all, and this didn’t look too hard at all. He held up his wand at attention only for her to back away in fear, wings wrapping around her body. “I’m not gonna hurt you I promise. I know there were people who did.” That was very true. Until the age of seven when the operation was busted Phil was ‘given’ his wings through experimentation. The only positive was that they at least didn’t fuck up the wings and he wasn’t ever in any pain because of their presence, unlike this girl. _

_ Her wings slowly unfurled as her eyes pierced into Phil, her stance relaxed ever so slightly as he bowed her head allowing him access to her wounded back. With a simple flick of his wand the wounds began to glow and heal themselves. He could see the girl’s facial expression relax a bit as she took a sigh of relief. _

_ “Hi, my name is Philza, it’s nice to meet you.” he said, reaching a hand out to shake with her, not expecting a vocal answer. _

_ “A-ari.” a shaky cracked voice came from the girl, brown eyes peering up at the boy and shaking his hand slowly. She didn’t quite catch False’s smile from the other side of the alleyway. _

_ “Maybe I’ll see you again next time we visit.” Phil replied with a smile before walking dead into none other than Jonathan Schlatt. _

_ “What the fuck bird brain!” _

Dream, Techno, Punz, Sapnap, Ranboo, Ant, and Awesam waited in their lines from the previous day for Ari to arrive. The classroom was the same except for one large cupboard now in the back of the room. Soon enough a white dove flew into the window and transformed into their teacher, yet again adorned in white robes that shined on chocolate skin. The clicking of high heeled boots filled the room as she ventured to the front of the class.

“I plan to do more one on ones today so just do some practice duels while you’re waiting. Dream I’ll see you first.” Ari said. Whilst the rest paired up, Sapnap and Punz, Techno and Ranboo, and Ant and Awesam, Dream walked over to Ari’s desk.

“Slug, horse, dove.” she said flatly, looking at Dream attentively. His body contorted to first a slug, dark black with a lime green stripe across its back. Next a horse, black with a white main and tail and a deep green dorsal stripe. Finally Dream managed the dove, black with white and green flecks over it. Finally he transformed back, knees a bit weak from the exertion. 

“Again.” Ari said. Dream gave her quite the look of surprise, but she didn’t seem to be joking. Slug was easy, horse was harder, no chance on the dove.

“Again.” Slug again, horse with a slimy stomach and no head.

“Again.” Just a slug, nothing else.

“Again.” Nothing, absolutely nothing. “Disappointing. I was hoping we could get at least two full rounds.” 

“Well this is hard!” Dream yelled, exasperated. 

“Of course it’s hard, now step up to the fucking challenge.” Ari replied. “Stamina is important, kid. Life or death situation and you can’t get out cause’ you were a little bitch in this class that couldn’t do shit.”

“I-”

“Again.” Dream’s face twisted in anger. Slug first, easy. Horse second, coat’s a bit janky but it will do. Dove last. As he transformed back Dream could feel the sweat dripping down his back. “Dream let me make something clear to you. I don’t care about you, I don’t care about anyone in this class. I’m going to push you until you break and then build you back up properly. So you can yell at me, cry at me, think I’m a devil I don’t care. Go switch out with Ranboo.” 

Ranboo was visibly nervous standing before Ari. Shifting from foot to foot as his eyes glanced anywhere but at her face. His ears twitched ever so slightly and his hands were clammy. Arms behind his back gripping his fingers together like a lifeline.

“Jesus kid, I don’t bite most of the time.” Ari commented before she went to the corner of the room where the cupboard sat. 

“Do you know what a Bogart is?” Ranboo nodded, staring at the cupboard. “Alright well you’re going to face one right now, yes?” Another nod and Ari tapped the cupboard twice with her wand for the bogart to spring out from it, snarling. Ranboo immediately stepped back, wands shaking in his hand.

“You see yourself don’t you kid.” Ari said, looking at Ranboo with the smallest bit of sympathy. “Fight it kid, prove you’re not afraid. Don’t let that fucker win. Take it on, I don’t care how, but win.” Ranboo’s hand steadied, eyes shining with determination. Ari smiled. He began to massacre the monstrous form of himself. The transformed mutation of his own body being plundered by spells. The bogart began to shift back, unable to keep up.

“Well done kid!” Ari said, hands clapping together. “Ridikkulus!” Ari said, sending the bogart back into the cupboard. It genuinely seemed happy to be there. Ranboo was panting, but he seemed happy that he’d succeeded. 

“Good job kid, I’m proud of you. Go and Grab Awesam.” Ari said. The class went on pretty normally after that. Sam was given a magic powered redstone lock that he had to disable and pick at. A few light burns later and he had it open. Antfrost was told to sneak around the castle during class and that he best not be caught. Sapnap was made to create fire as Ari increasingly made his body colder with her own magic, which- to her delight- he succeeded at well. Punz and Techno dueled Ari together. Techno was forced to work together whilst Punz needed to show compatibility with any teammate he had. 

“Very good everyone, I’m happy with this improvement. Lastly there will be no words to any Ilvermorney students about this class.” Ari said, before once again transforming to a dove and leaving out the window. Other than Techno, who was grumpy about having to ‘carry’ Punz and still losing to Ari, everyone else was pretty happy about being accomplished too. 

_ “Dude why are you hanging out with some homeless grunts.” Schlatt said in a sing-song tune, laughing at his winged friend. _

_ “Oh shut up Schlatt, you don’t know what they’ve been through.” Phil replied. And here lies the difference between the two kids. _

_ “Well they obviously fucked up if they ended up here.” Schlatt replied. _

_ “It’s not always their fault!” Phil yelled back only for Schlatt to shove him into the stone alley wall. _

_ “Oh shut up you saint Don’t tell you do-” Schlatt began before he was yanked down into the snow. Phil looked over to see Ari on top of Schlatt, knife pointed to his throat with the wings arched around him like a cage. _

_ “Hey Ari, it’s fine you don’t need t-” Phil began. _

_ “Kid come on, he’s not worth your time. Just some elitist trash from across the sea.” False cut in, placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder. _

_ “So why not I get rid of it? It’s not like I haven’t killed before.” Ari shot back, voice cutting through the air like a blade. “I’ve killed far more innocent people than him just because they told me to. I want to do it under my own free will.”  _

_ “We don’t do that here kid.” False said sternly, “Just let it go.” Ari slowly stepped back from Schlatt, standing up straight- wings still at attention waiting to strike. _

_ “What the fuck Phil! You making friends with fucking crazy people!” Schlatt yelled at Philza, only be pinned against the wall by his own friend. _

_ “Schlatt do you know where I come from? That I’ve killed people just like she has. That maybe we might be one in the same?” Phil could see the fear in Schlatt’s eyes. _

_ “Hey, idiots!” Connor’s voice cut through the tension. “Let’s maybe not get into a brawl so we aren’t invited back, kay? Just settle down and have some butter beer.” Schlatt gave Phil a look that cut like daggers before stalking away towards Connor. Phil gave Ari one last look before leaving with his friends. _

Wilbur, Niki, Fundy, Jack, and Eret were having a time dealing with Tommy and Tubbo (mostly Tommy). They were all prefects, so Phil had put them in charge of dealing with the younger students. One might think that outnumbering the two would be an advantage, but it seemed Tubbo’s cunning was able to cover for Tommy half the time. As sweet as the boy might appear, there was a reason Tubbo was in Slytherin. Niki, Jack, and Eret were also a bit less of a help considering that Tommy and Tubbo weren’t in either of their houses anyways. Wilbur was pretty good about keeping Tubbo under control, but Fundy was having… issues with Tommy.

“Come on Big man, whatcha gonna do?” Tommy yelled as Fundy tried to get him to put on nicer robes for their entrance into Ilvermorny. After thirty minutes everyone was together when Philza picked them up with a chariot pulled by Thestrals, though only Wilbur and Tommy could see them. They looked in awe as they peered out to see the lights of Ilvermorny school pierce through the clouds as the chariot glided down to the front of the castle. Ilvermorny students were lined up waiting to greet them to the school.

Philza stepped out first. Wings spread in a grand display of power. Whispers about ‘the angel of death’ flooded through the crowd. Wilbur, Tommy, and Tubbo came out next, the adopted children of the renowned Headmaster of Hogwarts. Wilbur was the most well known for being a master legilimens, even better than his father, but Tommy and Tubbo weren’t really unknowns either. Tommy was known for being the last person to wield the sword of Gryffindor since Nevil Longbottom, and Tubbo was known for being a distant relative of the Gaunt family and thus a parseltongue. 

Nike, Eret, Jack, and Fundy came next. Niki was known for her healing abilities that even surpassed the great Philza Minecraft, Eret was actually royalty, a relative to the Queen, and Fundy was a redstone expert, and very skilled in muggle computer science. Jack was known for interning as an auror and taking out multiple high class criminals before even graduatingNeedless to say, they were all pretty recognizable. 

Philza smiled, shaking hands with Bad as he was welcomed to the school. Bad apologized saying that Schlatt couldn’t make it, but Phil assured him it was absolutely not a problem. They were also greeted by the Charms Teacher Skeppy, who was often considered Bad’s second in the school. They exchanged formalities, but as they spoke Phil’z eyes drifted through the crowd, landing on a familiar winged woman. 

_ Schlatt grumbled to himself as he bought some candy from a stand about how Philza was acting like a fool trying to make friends with some hobo assassin. He paid for his candy and began to walk down the street. He was alone since Connor was sick which only added to his bad mood.  _

_ Schlatt heard heavy footsteps behind him, but before he could react he was pushed into a side alley by a bunch of older Griffindors. Schlatt just rolled his eyes, wasn’t he a bit too old for them to haze anymore? He stood still until he was hit across the face and knocked to the ground. _

_ “Fucking American scum. You don’t belong here.” So that was it. Growing tensions in the wizarding world between Europe and America somehow meant that he was some spy. Schlatt remembered that there’d been police brutality against some black Europeans on vacation in America, and he assumed that was it. “Come whatcha gonna do. Shoot me? Fucking lock me up for no reason?”  _

_ “What’ve I got to do with any of that?” Schlatt shot back only to receive a kick directly in the stomach. _

_ “Stop.” a female voice bounced off the walls of the alley as Schlatt looked up to see a familiar winged girl. “Stop before I make you.”  _

_ “Fuck off you homeless bitch.” one spat. Ari drew her knife and charged. The bullies weren’t even able to draw their wands before Ari had knocked each of them to the ground. She grabbed Schlatt’s hand, dragging him back into the spaces behind shops, weaving them through until they were back at the very front of Hogsmeade. _

_ “Uh… thanks I guess.” Schlatt said nervously. Ari just remained silent. “Alright I’ve got to ask, why’d you help me?” _

_ “Friend of my friend.” Ari said. Schlatt thought for a second, before digging into his pocket.Ari immediately went into a fighting stance. _

_ “Woah woah woah, relax, it’s a gift.” Schlatt said, pulling out his old wand from his pocket. It stopped working for him about a year ago and he had to go to Olvianders for a new one. “I don’t know if it'll work for you, but you can try it.” Schlatt handed her the wand with a smile, and Ari slowly took it, smiled, and the walked away. _

_ “Well, well, well, the Great J. Schlatt was saved by the crazy homeless monster girl.” Phil’s voice rang out behind him with a laugh. “Come on let’s get some butter beer.” _

Philza met Ari’s eyes for only a moment. Piercing blue meeting deep chocolate brown for the first time in years before both glancing away immediately. Phil wanted to talk to her, to think of something to say, but there was nothing. The only thing he noticed was the wand that stuck out of her pocket was an all too familiar one. 

“Ayyyy Blade! What’s going on!” Tommy was the first to break the ice, giving Techno a playful punch in the shoulder.

“Hi Tommy, Wilbur.” Techno said, trying not to unveil his happiness about seeing his friends again.

“Who are these guys Techno?” Dream asked from behind the hybrid.

“Oh, I used to play video games with them when we were younger.” Techno explained. He didn’t see how Ari raised an eyebrow from across the plaza.

“Well how’s it been Big T? Still wrecking the competition?” Tommy continued. Before being yanked back by Wilbur.

“Tommy talk later, we’ve got to go with the rest to get settled.” Wilbur cut in before giving Techno a nod and draggin Tommy back to the group.

“They look like quite the pair.” Dream commented.

“Oh, they are.” Techno replied with a small smile. “You shoulda seen them when they were younger, it was hilarious.” Techno had a look of fondness on his face Dream hadn't seen from the hybrid before. How close was he to these kids?

_ Ari waved the wand in the air. She was alone in the woods, left to practice her skills. She didn’t know the name of the spells she cast, but they just felt right. She had been using a bunny to practice. She could make it float and freeze up. She could make it feel immeasurable pain and control it’s mind. And finally, she could kill it with one simple spell. It was the only spell she knew. Her captors had used it, the ones she escaped so long ago. _

The Hogwarts students walked through the school like a Greek battalion. The four prefects surrounded the two children in the middle like shields. Every turn was another nasty look from an American student. This wasn’t going to be a good week. Wilbur headed the group, often returning those stares with nothing more than a blank slate face. They finally reached the rooms in the South tower, everyone letting out a sigh of relief.

They all began to unpack their things. Wilbur has brought his guitar. Tubbo brought his pet snake named Bee. Phil had the sorting hat, which he brought for Tommy. Eret had his pride flags and crown. Fundy brought a computer and a copy of Treasure Planet. And, finally, Niki brought a magic bag with a kitchen inside that she could climb into. Jack had brought a picture of their friends back home so they could talk. Little things that made the strange place a bit more like home.

“Tubbo, who do you think will get picked by the goblet.” Tommy asked his friend. They were alone in their shared room whilst the rest unpacked their things.

“I think Wilbur and Fundy will. Historically Gryffindors and Slytherins get picked.” Tubbo replied. “Although I’d say all of them stand a chance. After all we’re doing four instead of three right?”

“Yeah two from each school. Uneven representation would’ve been bad.” Tommy replied. Guitar strumming could be heard from the main room of the tower and the two boys walked in to Wilbur tuning his guitar. Niki was sitting next to him and watching Wilbur work. 

“Which one will you play?” Niki asked.

“I’m thinking Vienna.” Wilbur replied. “It’s not a great day, but it isn’t shitty enough for Jubilee Line.”

Meanwhile, Philza settled in his own room. It was a spare teacher’s office that had been fixed with a bed and dresser. It was relatively close to the South Tower where the kids were staying which put him at ease, but he was still puzzling over Ari’s presence. After all, they’d never seemed to leave each other on a good note...

_ “Freak! Hybrid scum! Half-breed!” the other boys screamed at Phil as they kicked him and ripped out his feathers. He’d been going to find Ari, but ended up trapped in an alley with some older men who didn’t take kindly to his wings. “Fucking filth, get out of our town!” Phil just curled up and took it. It hadn’t been the first time, after all it was his sixth year now. Suddenly one of the men began to keel over in pain, but nothing seemed to have hit him.  _

_ “Get out.” Phil recognized Ari’s voice immediately. He looked up and saw Ari with her wand pointing at the man. He was beginning to whimper now, small screams leaving his mouth.  _

_ “Ari what are you doing?” Phil said, eyes widening with the realization of what she was doing. The Cruciatus curse- unforgivable. “Ari stop, you’ll get in huge trouble.” But she didn’t stop. With another flick all three men were pushed out onto the main road in front of everyone- including local law enforcement. _

_ “Stop!” Phil screamed, but it was too late. Ari had immediately been seized and knocked out cold. It was the last time he’d see her for years. All he knew is that she escaped, killed five people, and was never seen in England again. _


	6. Chapter 4: Heist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A confused son, a break-in, and a very short temper

It’d been three months since the Hogwarts students had arrived at Ilvermorny. The buzz around them had died down a bit. Wilbur could still see some of the girls giggling in the hallways eyeing him, which drove him slightly crazy considering these were the same people that might’ve killed him for their country a few months ago. 

“Hey Soot.” Wilbur turned to see a man he recognized, but had never met before. Quackity, Schlatt’s VP. “Schlatt wants to meet with you, come with me.” Wilbur looked around nervously before following, making sure to have his wand in hand. Quackity led him to a secluded classroom and opened the door wide. Inside there was a smiling J.Schlatt.

“What do you want?” Wilbur said through gritted teeth, trying to hide his fear behind a strong front.

“Well that’s no way to greet a political leader.” Schlatt said with a sly grin. “Though Phil would’ve taught you better. You know he was always such a golden boy when we were kids.” Wilbur tried to hide the confusion on his face. When they were kids?

“Oh he never told you, what a shame. Although we did have quite the falling out in our 7th year.” Schlatt said, grin widening. “But before that it was Schlatt, Philza, and Connor, Slytherins extraordinaire.”

“You’re lying through your teeth.” Wilbur spat through gritted teeth.

“Philza carries a Blackthorn wood wand with a dragon heartstring core that is 9 and a half inches- or about seventeen centimeters- with hard flexibility. His patronus is a unicorn, even if he never has to use it since he can control dementors.” Wilbur’s mouth began to draw agape as Schlatt continued to list facts that were supposed to be secret. “Phil was always a god at divination and charms, but he’s honestly not the best duelist and depends on his other skills more. Still sure I’m lying Wilbur?”

“It doesn’t matter. You know what I don’t care about what you have to say anyway! Just leave me alone.” Wilbur yelled at Schlatt, turning to leave.

“You’re going to hear me or I’ll move on to Tommy or Tubbo.” Schlatt replied sharply to which Wilbur froze. He slowly pivoted back around to glare back at Schlatt. “You’re going to do something for me Wilbur, and in return I won’t spill secrets to the rest of my cabinet.” Wilbur knew that cabinet, it was notoriously smart and powerful. Traves, Slimecicle, Connor, and Cooper were the most recognizable. Cooper was the treasurer, Traves was the Secretary of State, and Slime the Secretary of Defense. If this got out it could be terrible.

“What do you want.” Wilbur said quietly.

“You’re going to put Tommy’s name into the goblet of fire.” Schlatt replied.

“You can’t be serious! Phil said 5th year co-” Wilbur began.

“Do I look like I care?” Schlatt growled, stepping closer to Wilbur. Though WIlbur was taller he felt small next to the president. 

“Fine. I’ll do it.” Wilbur replied. 

“Good man.” Schlatt said with a smile, before leaving the room. Wilbur stood there still, looking around the room as if it would give him an answer. He spotted a dove on the sill staring at him. It felt almost unnatural.

**“If you change sides now you just might be able to save your family.”** a voice spoke in his head as he looked at the dove. He could have sworn it gave him a nod before flying away.

_ “Sir, there’s been a break in! Gringotts, with an unidentified witch!” shouting came from down the hall as his secretary burst into Vikkstar’s office. _

_ “Prepare some flu powder for Diagon Alley.” Vikkstar said, the secretary rushing from the room. He looked up at one of the paintings in the office. “Send word to Philza at once.” _

The Hogwarts students had immediately learned to avoid Ms. Ari. Eyes to the floor when you heard her heels clicking down the hallway. Don’t look at her, don’t make eye contact, and don’t ask any questions about what she was doing. Only acknowledge her if she acknowledged you first. They were rules his new friend Ranboo has told him. He was one of the more friendly Ilvermorny students, and got on well with Tommy and Tubbo. Currently they were messing around in one of the halls… during class time. Normally this would be fine if Ranboo hadn’t forgotten exactly which class he was skipping. Five minutes after classes began a dove flew through the window and landed right in front of Ranboo. It chirped at him twice, tilting its head ever so slightly. 

“Woah, you’ve got a friend Ranboo.” Tommy said before noticing his friend’s worried expression.

“I- uh I gotta go.” Ranboo stumbled over his words.

“Hey wait a moment ma-” Tommy began grabbing at Ranboo’s sleeve. That was the final straw as the dove transformed into its human counterpart. Tommy looked up to see Ari standing over him and Tubbo in front of Ranboo. Her wings were spread wide, darkening the hallway, and she wore a scowl on her face.

“Don’t move, I'll get to you two in a moment.” Ari growled before turning to Ranboo. “I told you exactly what would happen if you were late a second time.”

“Yes ma’am.” Ranboo replied quietly.

“Get to class and begin, if you don’t there will be more problems.” Ari ordered. Ranboo’s head hung low as he turned to leave for his class. “As for you two idiots, you should either get to class or at least go back to the South Tower where you belong.”

“Hey wait a minute! What are you doing to Ranboo?” Tommy shot back, eyes burning with passion.

“Teaching.” Ari replied. “And if you two don’t get it together, I’ll be disciplined too. And I promise you I do not follow the rules when it comes to that.” Ari’s wings began to rise higher, making her form even more intimidating. Just as it looked like things might not turn out well for the two younger boys, a raven flew into the room, transforming into none other than Philza Minecraft.

“There will be no off the books measures taken today Ari.” Philza said sternly. Both had drawn for their wands and were facing each other, eyes locked and reading for aggression.

“Then tell your brats to behave.” Ari replied.

“Tommy, Tubbo, go back to your rooms.” Philza ordered, and the two had no issue scrambling down the hallway and out of sight. “Can we talk, Ari.”

“I’ve got nothing to say to you.” Ari replied shortly.

“I think you do. I think we both do.” 

“And where were those words at Gringotts?”

“I- you know you shouldn’t have been there.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that I didn’t fucking do it! And you wouldn’t listen!”

“Look Ari, if this is about what happened at Hog-”

“I don’t care what happened then! It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“How did you even get out?”

“Transformed into a Warbler and flew three days straight across.” 

“Shit. Look Ari I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, but you have to understand that with your record…”

“It was a fucking setup and you know it! Ted did it, but on paper I’m still fucking guilty.” 

“If it was a setup then why are you even still working with Schlatt?”

“Ted did it one his own to discredit Schlatt, and he’s got proof of it. Ted wanted the presidency- not that he has a shot anymore.”

“Ari I can’t change the past, but we were friends. Please you at least owe me words.”

“I owe you absolutely nothing.” Ari said, ending the conversation by turning back into a dove and flying back to her class.

_ “Philza there’s a break in at Gringotts!” the painting yelled, a bit out of breath from making its way to Hogwarts in record time. Philz nodded grabbing his store of flu powder and teleporting into the Leaky Cauldron. _

_ He rushed outside and pushed through crowds of people to see the bank to see scores of aurors at the ready surrounding the bank.  _

_ “What’s the situation?” He asked Vik, who was directing the aurors into position. _

_ “Phil I think it best you take the lead on this one.” Vikkstar said nervously, “The perpetrator has been identified as Ari X.”  _


	7. Chapter: 5 Selection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A guilt ridden son, an unexpected choice, and an anomaly

Wilbur felt sick to his stomach. He’d just put Tommy’s name in the Goblet of Fire. The guilt was washing over him making him physically sick. His stomach hurt and he felt dizzy. Wilbur kept wondering what Philza would do. He had possibly sentenced Tommy to death, but had saved Phil’s secrets. Wilbur had tried not to be selfish, like how Phil would do, but he’d still hurt his brother.

And then there were those words. The ones from the dove. Switch sides now and he could save them. Was it a warning? A threat? He laid down in his bed, eyes facing the ceiling. He felt stretched thin, pulled from every direction without knowing where to go or where they led. He felt like crying, but couldn’t manage tears. He wanted to throw up and feel relieved, but couldn’t even manage that. How had one conversation, one action, done this to him.

“Hey Wilbur, I know you’re sick, but Tubbo thought I should let you know that Ms. Ari is an animagus.” Tommy said peering into Wilbur’s dark room. “She can turn into a dove.” Tommy couldn’t see Wilbur’s face in the dark room, but he was sure he’d stiffened up.

“Thanks, I’ll look out for that.” Wilbur said quietly. As soon as Tommy closed the door Wilbur sat up and closed his eyes. He could feel his mind leave his body and sift through the thousands of thoughts in the castle. The master legilimens began to work, filtering through everyone until he reached his subject.

**“Ari”**

“Who the f- oh it’s you. What a brave fool.” Ari’s voice felt like an axe going through Wilbur’ head. It was so overbearing and distracting.

**“Why did you say that to me… in the tower.”**

“I was being nice. Now if you excuse me I’d really like to proceed with my class now.”

**“What are you planning?”**

“Don’t ask me, I'm just a soldier.”

**“You and Schlatt are close. Don’t lie to me. I know you’re lying. I can feel it.”**

“I’ll admit this is impressive. But you can’t tell which part is the lie can you.”

**“I’ll get there, I can promise you that. What’s Schlatt’s history with Philza?**

“Not a question for me. I have a class to run kid. Bye bye.” Ari’s eyes opened. Her class was staring at her suspiciously, Techno and Dream had even drawn their wands just to be sure. “Relax kids, just having a friendly conversation with someone. Anyways, can anyone guess what we’re doing today.” Sam looked from Ari to the changed up Dementor in the corner of the room and then back to Ari. 

“Patronus?” Sam said, unimpressed.

“You can scoff at it all you want, but that’s what we’re doing.” Ari replied sharply.

“Ms. Ari there hasn’t been a dementor in America since the Scamander incident.” Sam shot back.

“I think you might need a patronus more than you think soon enough.” Ari said with a wink. “Now, have any of you actually had cast patronus before?” 

“I’ve done it.” Technoblade spoke up. “Mine’s an abraxan winged horse.”

“Interesting. A rare one, but it fits.” Ari commented. “Anyways, let’s see it at work.” Techno pulled out his wand, casting a pure white light from it. The massive horse began to take form, wings spreading across the room. It was beautiful, shaking it’s mane and stamping, impatient for action.

“I have to admit I’m impressed.” Ari said, holding a hand out to the horse. It bowed its head along her to run her hand down it’s neck. Everyone watched in awe as she was able to interact with the patronus as if it was a true entity. “Anyways let’s see what the rest of you can do.”

The class ended up being much more fun than they first expected. Seeing everyone’s patronuses come to life was amazing. Punz went first and had a Fire-dwelling Salamander, another rare find. Next was Sapnap, who ended up with a Hippogriff. Sam got a Raven- quite befitting. Ant was an Occamy, the winged lizard surprising just about everyone. Ranboo got a White Swan, the protective patronus not letting anyone get close to it’s caster. 

Finally, Dream cast a giant dragon that could barely fit in the room. The creature curled around the boy, it’s tail twitching and eyes surveying the room constantly. It was magnificent, Dream even showing off by letting the beast fly out around the school.

“Alright, very good everyone. However, there’s more you can do with a patronus than just cast it. With enough grit and magic you can give your patronus a corporeal form allowing them to fight for you as well as carry you places.” Ari explained. “For example…” Ari waved her wand and two animals emerged. Two patronuses…. Somehow. One was a ram and the other a raven. With another motion the raven grew large and she sat upon its back. The bird’s wings unfolded and began to beat. The avian hovered in the air before setting itself back down. Ari gave the two creatures a nod before they faded away.

“How do you have two!” Sapnap was the first to remark.

“That is peculiar. I don't recall any recorded incidences of that.” Sam added.

“There’s a first for everything.” Ari replied, “And the Raven came first anyways.” 

_ Philza walked down the grand entrance hall of Gringotts bank. The work was so messy. It didn’t make sense for Ari, yet again it’d been over a decade. Things change. But still, the crime scene for her escape was neat and tidy. There was no blood or fires, Ari was to the point. She would usually use the killing or cruciatus curse, and if blood was spilled it would be due to another spell, not a knife or dagger. _

_ The stench of death was thick in the air. Goblins and wizards alike were bloodied and ruined. He could hear yells distantly as he went down into the caverns. His wings spread out as he began to glide down. The only question was why? What was the motivation?  _

Whispers buzzed around the Great Hall of Ilvermorny as the Goblet sat at its center. Bad and Philza stood on either side of the cup as it fizzled and cracked. The hall was dark with only torches providing flickering light. The goblet stood out like a beacon, flames whispering in the dim light. It reflected on the faces on the men beside it. Bad’s face was clearly worried, but it was cloaked under his usual red an black hood. Philza stood strong and proud, red lighting up his green robes and stone cold expression. Schlatt stood in a back corner watching, flames barely licking him. 

“Students quiet down and we can begin.” Bad announced to the hall. The place immediately fell silent with anticipation as the first note was drawn from the goblet. “Ilvermorny’s first champion will be…. TECHNOBLADE!” Bad yelled out to the crowd. Eyes turned to the hybrid who looked like he might sink to the floor as he trudged up into the stage and put into the side room. 

“The first champion for Hogwarts is…” Philza announced. “WILBUR SOOT!” Wilbur got up shakily. His peers just assumed he was nervous that he’d been chosen, but Schlatt’s sick grin landing on him just made it worse.

“Please not Tommy…” Wilbur whispered under his breath as he slowly made his way into the side room. 

“The next Ilvermorny champion is… DREAM!” Unlike the previous two, Dream walked up confidently with a smirk, not catching George’s eye-roll as he walked by his friend’s table. 

“And the final Hogwarts champion is…” Phil announced, he opened the note and his eyes widened, a slight tremble could be seen in his hands. He took a deep breath before opening his mouth. “TommyInnit.” The hall was silent. Tommy looked at Philza confused.

“I- I’m not- what?” Tommy stumbled over his words. 

“You have to go Tommy.” Niki whispered to him, trying to reassure the boy as he shakily got up and walked down the hall. As soon as he exited the room, he was yanked aside by Philza who’d followed him in.

“Did you put you’re name in?” 

“What?”

“Did. You. Put. Your. Name. In. It’s your handwriting Tommy.” 

“N-no Phil I didn’t. I swear on my gaming keyboard I did not!” Phil stepped back, usuring his son into the room where Dream, Techno, and Wilbur sat. Wilbur looked pale, eyes trained on his brother. He held out a shaky hand, pulling Tommy over to sit next to him. Ari, Schlatt, Bad, and Skeppy stood in the middle of the room, the avian hybrid’s eyes trained on Tommy.

“Alright listen up. Each school will have a teacher mentor to guide students in hopes to minimize risk. Ari will be in charge of Techno and Dream and, since there are no teachers with you, Skeppy had volunteered to be in charge of Wilbur and Tommy.” Bad began. “The hint for your first task will be in these envelopes.”

“Remember there is only one winner. That you represent your school when you do this. I expect the best from all of you.” Schlatt spoke up, eyes trained on the Ilvermorny students. “So, let the games begin!” He said, exiting the room. The four champions grabbed their envelopes, each pulling out a card. Each letter was addressed to the reader, and simply said ‘Ready to join the fray?’. Each card had the house creature on it as well, dancing across the page. It ran after the student’s fingers as they traced the page, granting a light sting if they managed to catch them. 

“Alright kids.” Ari cut through the silence, “all of you to bed.” Before Tommy and WIlbur could even leave the hall they were yanked aside by Philza.

“Tommy, I’m going to ask this one more time.” Philza said, brilliant blue eyes piercing through his son. “Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?”

“No.” Tommy said firmly. Philza sighed. Tommy wasn’t lying. “Alright Tommy go to bed. Wil, I still want to talk to you.” Chills went down Wilbur’s spine. Did Phil know?

“Alright Wilbur, I know you’re stressed about this, but you have to calm down.” Philza said softly. “You’re giving everyone in this castle a headache.” Wilbur knew what was happening. It never happened on this scale, but on occasion he’d lose control of his head and his emotions would spread out without control. He could hear so many voices. Everything hurt. He wanted to crumble down to the floor. Disappear and ne- - - Strong arms pulled the boy close. Familiar wings wrapped around them and suddenly all the voices were gone. Wilbur sank into his father’s arms.

“You alright Wil?” Phil said. 

“Better.” Wilbur replied.

“It’ll be okay.” Phil said. But Wilbur looked deep into those blue eyes. He was lying.


	8. Chapter 6: Guilt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A regret, an applause, and a question

Wilbur winced as Schlatt’s hands beat together. He couldn’t stand the president’s smile. His sarcastic applause. Wilbur couldn’t stand the fact that he’d let Schlatt use him. That it seemed Schlatt intended to keep using him. 

“I gotta admit kid, the look on your face was priceless.” Schlatt laughed. Wilbur just stared at the floor. His stomach turned. It wasn’t even about Schlatt at this point. Not all the way. It was about how he’d allowed himself to be used by him. “Anyways good luck, can’t have you dyin’ on me early.” Schlatt said with a laugh, leaving Wilbur alone with his thoughts.

“Why me?” He asked. Wilbur pondered the question as he made his way up to his room. He sat in the middle of his room, flicking his wand to lock the door. It was already late at night at this point, so everything was silent as his mind began to wander throughout the castle. It first coasted over Tommy’s mind. It was still buzzing with confusion earlier that evening and Wilbur put it to rest. Next it delved into Philza’s mind carefully. Wilbur didn’t want to be caught peering in on his father’s secrets. 

Philza was beginning to put the pieces together already. He’d already figured out Schlatt had puppeteered either Wilbur, Fundy, Jack, or Eret to do it. Stress krept into Wilbur’s mind, and he carefully placed a block into his Father’s brain. He couldn’t let Phil figure out the truth. What would his father think of him?

His attention was caught by a memory at the forefront of Phil’s mind. Two kids sitting in a train. The images were blurry to Wilbur. As soon as the memory appeared it was gone. It wasn’t something Phil liked to remember. But, Wilbur could’ve sworn he saw ram horns on one of the boys in the car. Was Schlatt really telling the truth about knowing Phil?

**“Someone snooping?”** Wilbur flinched at Ari’s voice. He knew it was only a matter of time before she’d felt him searching around, but it was still an overbearing presence.

“What are you doing in his head?” Wilbur replied defensively, pivoting the conversation out of the outskirts of Phil’s mind before the man figured out what was going on.

“Oh don’t think it’s anything special. Just a security check. It was on the shit you signed.” Ari replied nonchalantly. “But I think you have other questions to ask me.”

“Why me?”

“Cause you’d do it.”

“Why Tommy?”

“Not your concern.” Wilbur remained silent, but didn’t back out. Ari began to push further, both materializing in WIlbur’s mind. “Stop trying to be like Philza.”

“What?”

“You keep trying to do what he'd do. Don’t.”

“Why? He’s one of the most accomplished and loved wizards in the world.” 

“And is what the world sees always the truth?” 

“Well no, but it means he makes decisions considered moral.”

“I wouldn’t count on that.” Ari replied, her face darkening. “You don’t know him like I do.”

“What? Why- what would you know about Phil?”

“Oh kid.” Ari said, a hint of true sympathy in her eyes. “There is so much you don’t know.” 

“Did you do it?”

“What?”

“Did you really kill all those people?”

“No.” She wasn’t lying.

_ “Look me in the eyes and tell me this wasn’t you.” Shadows danced around the room as winged silhouettes flickered with the fires. White wings were blood stained. They’d been there for an hour now. “Ari look at me.” _

_ “Where am I? How did I get here?” Hands shaking. Feathers trembling slowly. “Phil what happened?” _

_ “You tell me. I just walked down a hallway filled with death and found you at the end of it. What did you do now Ari?” Phil asked sharply, wand drawn and poised for attack at the back of an old friend. _

_ “I didn’t do this.”  _

_ “Why should I believe you? This doesn’t look good Ari.” Phil replied. Despite the fires, the room began to grow cold as Phil’s magic drew his disciples closer. _

_ “Philza I didn’t do this.” _

_ “Then who else did! I- Ari I thought you were better than this.” Philza replied. Ice krept up the walls. _

_ “You don’t believe me.” _

_ “No.” _

“Phil can we talk?” Wilbur said anxiously. Looking up at his father. It’s been two days since he’d spoken to Ari, and he’d finally decided to ask Phil about it. He didn’t notice a small siamese cat slip into the room with him.

“Sure Will, what’s up.” Phil replied, leaning back in his chair to look up at his son.

“What happened between you and Ari?” Wilbur asked. Phil’s eye flashed with the slightest bit of apprehension, but the man remained calm.

“I arrested her for what happened in Gringotts. That’s all.” Phil replied.

“You’re lying.”

“Excuse me?”

“You are lying.”

“I’ve told you not to go snooping around in my head Will.” Phil replied, Wilbur easily able to pick up on the anger boiling inside his father.

“Then tell me the truth.” 

“How about you tell me the truth, Wilbur, about Tommy.” 

“D- don’t ignore my question Phil.”

“So you did have something to do with it.” 

“That’s not what this is about.”

“You put Tommy’s name in the goblet Wilbur.” Phil stood up from his desk. Even though he was shorter than Wilbur, with his wings spread and stone cold glare Wilbur felt small. “Tell me why. Now.”

“Then tell me the truth! You can’t expect me to be honest with you if you won’t be honest with me!” Wilbur yelled. 

“Stop poking around in places you don’t belong and you won’t have this problem!” Philza yelled back.

“I wouldn’t have to if you just stopped lying!” Wilbur yelled, hot tears making his vision blurry. “And I didn’t even mess around in your head to know anyway, Ari told me everything.”

“Will.” Philza’s face shifted into one Wilbur hadn’t seen from his father before. It was soft, but not in a truthful sort of way. “You can’t possibly believe what she’s telling you.” 

“She wasn’t lying.” Wilbur shot back. “She didn’t lie to me about anything like you’ve been.” 

“They’re just trying to use you Wilbur!” Phil yelled. That’s when it hit the younger.

“Get out of my head Phil.” He said with a deadly calm, Phil’s hand held his head as Wilbur pushed him out of his own mind.

“They’re trying to use you Will. It’s what people like Schlatt do. He used you to put Tommy’s name in and now he’s trying to get you to tear us apart.” Phil said, his anger beginning to rise, but not at Wilbur anymore.

“Yeah, you guys have a lot in common don’t you. It’s like you used to be best friends or something.” Wilbur said angrily, storming out of the room before Phil could get another word in. The older man slammed his fist into the table before morphing into a raven. There was someone he needed to talk to. 

_ “Fine.” A wand slipped from the woman’s hand. It made something in Philza hesitate. Schlatt’s wand. Schlatt’s wand that he gave to Ari. The one Ari used to defend him. The wand Ari has used to end lives. _

_ “I’m sorry.” Phil said, before the Dementors poured into the room, eating away at Ari’s soul. _

_ “No you’re not.”  _

The student’s jumped as the door to Ari’s classroom was slammed open. 

“Get your kids out of here. We need to talk. Now.” Philza looked Ari dead in the eyes, wings stretched throughout the room.

“Jesus, and here I thought I didn’t care about education.” Ari replied. “If you want to talk you have to make an appointment just like everyone else.” Just then a small siamese cat slipped into the classroom behind Phil and trotted over to Ari. It let out a loud purr as she scratched its ear. Phil rolled his eyes before leaving.

“Heard something interesting Ant?” she asked the feline which promptly transformed into a human. 

“Should talk about it in private though. You won’t believe what Schlatt said.” Ant said. It was code, the whole room knew it. It meant the information wasn’t something to be shared with the rest of the class, like some idle gossip of basic information.

“Class dismissed.” Ari said promptly, and the kids began to clean up the potions they’d been brewing and filed out.

_ “Alright Ant, what’d you hear?” _

Phil tapped his foot impatiently as a hushed voice conversed inside the classroom. Finally the cat animagus left and Phil entered. Ari was putting away the cauldrons and tidying up as he entered.

“What do you want.” Ari said, not really acknowledging the man’s impatience and anger. Phil was next to her in a flash, grabbing Ari and slamming her into the wall. 

“Stay the fuck away from my kids Ari. That goes for Schlatt too.” Phil growled. Ari just laughed.

“You don’t scare me Philza.” 

“Then your stupid.”

“Am I? We’ve both seen things Phil. We didn’t get these wings from god.”

“Ari there is nothing I care more about in this world than those kids. Keep your hands off them.”

“I guess it fits that you’d hurt the people you care about.” 

“This isn’t about what happened.”

“Why not? All I see is history repeating.”


	9. Chapter 7: You can't fix broken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mountain, a mentor, and a hint

Wilbur climbed up the snowy mountain Ilvermorny sat upon. It was the only privacy he could get. Away from all the voices and the prying eyes. Away from prying eyes and minds. At the top of the mountain everything was quiet. Cold, but quiet. At home Wilbur would’ve gone into the Forbidden Forest to get away. He’d befriended the centaurs and spiders of the woods, and they allowed him to enter for some peace. And of course, to let loose. 

Will peeled off his shirt shivering as the chilly air hit the two long scars that painted his back. They began to bleed as they were torn apart, as something tried to force itself outside. Brown feathers began to slowly make their way out. Wilbur dropped to the ground, the process being extremely painful. Finally they came out in full, wings spreading a flexing in the cold wind. They steamed, the warmth of being formed wearing off. The feathers were the color of cinnamon with small snowflakes dapple the edges. 

Phil had always had WIlbur hide the fact that he was a hybrid. It came from a place of fear for his son, worried about getting hurt for his differences. Tubbo was a hybrid too, a bee, but he lost his wings as a result of an experiment. Wilbur’s strangeness was also built in a lab. The bones of his wings folded neatly under his skin and into his back. When the unfurled feathers grew on rapidly. It was draining, but he had to let them out sometimes just for some relief.

Wilbur looked down the mountain. He couldn’t fly. He’d never been taught to by the scientists or Philza. Something in him wanted to. Something wanted to soar above the clouds and away from the world early. 

_ To never come down at all.  _

It had been a week now since George stopped talking to Dream and Sapnap. It seemed the cup drawing had been the final straw. He knew deep down it wasn’t their fault, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. He’d begun to spend some time with the Hogwarts students, after all he was a transfer. However, George never expected to actually gain a bit of wisdom from one of them.

“You know George, perhaps you should consider why you aren’t a part of it rather than simply not being there.” Eret said to the other one day in the lounge. 

“What do you mean?” George shot back defensively. 

“Well, you only really learn things when you think about them from another perspective.” Eret explained. “If you were J. Schlatt, why would you not choose GeorgeNotFound for some stupid spy club.”

“Because I’m some foreign piece of shit that can’t do anything.” George grumbled.

“Well you’re half right.” Eret said. George could’ve sworn there was a twinkle in those thick sunglasses. “Why would I want a foreigner in my super secret government creation?” 

“I guess so.” George replied quietly, pondering the new perspective. “I’m… I’m gonna go talk to them.”

“Yes please leave.” Eret said as he left. “Tommy won't shut up about being friends with GeorgeNotFound.” 

George walked through the corridors of Ilvermorny looking for his friends. One kettle wheeze later and Dream had been located outside the library laughing his ass off about something stupid Sapnap had done. Punz and Sam were there too, and Techno could be seen actually in the library reading a book- looking pretty pissed off about the noise. 

“Hey can we uh- can we talk?” George said, walking up to the group. It went quiet for a moment- just a moment- and then Dream smiled.

_ “Course George, come on.”  _

It was getting dark but Wilbur didn’t want to leave. He felt so free atop the mountain. It was different from the forest. Here he could feel the wind whispering around him. He could watch the sunset from above the clouds. Vibrant blues and deep fuschias danced across the sky as the sun sank below the clouds. Behind him the moon climbed out from the night’s abyss, it’s light drawing a winged shadow from Wilbur. 

He jumped at the silhouette a first before realizing it was his own. It was hard. A piece of WIlbur didn’t see himself with wings, and it felt strange, dysmorphic even. On the other hand it was liberating. It was wearing a piece of himself laced with pain like a badge of honor. And it was rebelling against Philza, even if Wilbur wasn’t ready to admit it yet. 

He was pulled from his calm when he saw a winged figure approaching, soaring up from the clouds and coming right for him. As it drew closer the snow white wings gave it away. Ari. She glided around him, touching the sun and moon before landing.

“They’re looking for you.” Ari said, not waiting for an invitation to sit down next to Wilbur. She didn’t pay his wings any mind, just looking at the last sliver of sun ducking below the clouds.

“And they sent you?” 

“No, but I knew you’d be here.”

“Why?”

“It’s where I’d go, and you’re a lot like me.”

“Excuse me? I’m nothing like you. I don’t kill people!” 

“Hurting people isn’t the pinnacle of my personality. What matters is why I do it.”

“Sure.” Wilbur slid away from Ari, his wings curling around himself to form some sort of shield. 

“You want to be trusted, but you find it hard to trust people back. You care about people, but you always seem to disappoint them. You aspire to make a better choice, but always seem to end up being used. You try, but in the end trying isn’t enough.” WIlbur looked over towards Ari. She was peering out at the clouds, and the moonlight lit her face enough to see that her eyes were glistening with pools of tears. “It’s never enough.” 

“How do you do it? How do you keep going.” Wilbur asked, unconsciously moving his wings back and letting them sit in the snow. 

“I don’t know. I just… do.” Ari replied. “Because- because maybe I can make something of someone else.” 

“You like teaching them, don’t you.” Wilbur said, his eyes finally meeting Ari’s for the first time.

“Yeah… yeah I guess I do.” And then she smiled. It was warm and nice and reminded Wilbur of Kristin, or Mumza as he and T- as he’d preferred. He missed her. They all did. But she was gone, and it had never been the same without her. “You should clean them.”

“What?”

“If you clean your wings off they’ll hurt less when they fold back in your back. They’ll be stretched out and clean when they form again.” Ari said.

“I don’t know how.” 

“I mean it’s not that hard you just…” Ari faded off as the boy leaned against her as she lightly adjusted his feathers, lining them back up straight and picking out dirt from underneath. “You know what? I’ll tell you later, just let me do it tonight.”

“Thanks.”

“I know what the first task is.”

“What?”

“Do you want to know?”

_ “...Yes.” _

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry for being jealous and mean and stupid and mean a-” George began, but he paused when he was brough into a warm hug by his friend, the familiar smoothness of the rim of Dream’s mask hitting the top of the smaller’s head.

“It’s okay George. You’re my friend, and that’s what counts.” Dream said with a smile, pulling back to look his friend in the eyes and taking off his mask to reveal green eyes and a goofy smile. “Anyway, you wanna know what the first task is. Techno and I figured it out already with Ari’s help.” Dream’s face lit up, he seemed pretty excited.

“We’ll be fighting our house animals. Wilbur will have a basilisk, Tommy will have a giant lion, and Techno and I will ha-”

“You’ll have a Wampus cat.” George looked worried. “Dream those things are nearly impossible to kill.”

“I don’t have to kill it, just knock it out.” Dream said with a smile. “Plus, I have a plan… kind of.”


	10. Chapter 8: Task One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A warrior, a wound, and a guilty friend

“Do you have any ideas?” 

“Well I think I’ll be able to borrow the sword from Tommy.”

“Do you even know how to use a sword?”

“A bit… I’ve been working on it.” 

“Wilbur if that poison gets in you, you’re done. We’ll have phoenix tears on sight, but you’d have lost.”

“Well this doesn’t exactly play to my skills considering I’m a legilimens.” 

“Well let’s not say that, I think there’s some things that might be very helpful for you.”

“Yeah?”

“Wilbur can you fly?” Wilbur looked up at Ari like she’d just asked him to jump in a pit of lava. 

“I- uh… I’m afraid of heights.” WIlbur replied quietly, looking down at the snow. They’d begun to meet atop the mountain regularly. Neither had exactly agreed on it or anything, they’d just decided to do it silently. 

“Look, flying could give you the edge you need to keep yourself ahead. Can you at least transform?” Wilbur’s face shifted, and his eyes began to glass over.

“No. I can’t.” He said quietly. “It was taken from me. I can’t do it.”

“No way.” Ari replied. “That stuff, that’s inside of you. The only thing in your way Wilbur, is your mind. You need to accept that you can do so much more than you believe.” Ari pulled Wilbur to his feet, walking the two towards the edge of the mountain.

“A-ari what are you-”

“You know baby birds learn to fly by jumping from their nests and falling.” Ari said with a smirk pushing Wilbur off the cliff before diving off after him. 

“WHAT THE FUCK!” Wilbur yelled as the two began to plummet down.

“Spread your wings open idiot, unless you wanna fall faster.” Ari yelled back. Wilbur’s cinnamon brown wings began to spread. “Alright now angle them to glide around and beat them to move. It’s not rocket science.” Wilbur took deep breath before tilting his wings to the left and beginning to soar in circles and figure eights. He experimented with beating his wings, feeling the air moving around him and lifting him back up. 

Wilbur felt free. Freer than he’d felt in so long. He truly felt like a bird soaring through the air, defying gravity at every turn and… he suddenly felt very very small. It soon became abundantly clear he no longer had hands, or really feet for that matter.

“Told ya you could do it. Nightingale- cute.” Ari said with a smile before transforming too, a beautiful white dove that flew next to him. Being in his bird form the flying began to feel instinctual. Like it was meant to be. The two finally landed, both transforming back into their human forms.

“A basilisk won’t attack a bird because it was born from a chicken egg hatched beneath a toad. It’s the second best thing considering you can only bring weapons and not a rooster.” Ari explained. 

“A rooster?”

“Rooster crows are a basilisk’s mortal weakness. Don’t ask why, I don’t fucking know.” Ari replied, “Regardless, if you wait in your Nightingales form for the perfect opening and then stab it you should be fine.”

“I just- doing all this would mean I’d be giving myself away in front of everyone.”

“Don’t think about it like that. You’re not giving anything away.”

_ “You’re taking back control of who you are.”  _

All four of the champions stood in a line before Bad, who was inspecting them for any contraband. 

“Your goal for this event is to knock out the creature presented to you, only after it is double tapped will you be given the clue for your next trial. You will be disqualified for not succeeding, so keep that in mind.” Bad explained after he’d made sure everyone was clear to begin. “Orders will be drawn from a hat. Take your pick.”

Dream reached his hand in eagerly, but ended up being granted fourth. Tommy went next, nervously grabbing out third. Techno reached in pulling out second, which meant Wilbur was going first. Tommy handed WIlbur the sword, making him promise to return it before Tommy’s round. Wilbur took a deep breath and walked out into the arena to face a massive basilisk. 

The snake trilled, already beginning to circle Wilbur, it’s eyes dilating as it creeped from light to darkness in the arena. _ That stuff, that’s inside of you.  _ The words sailed across Will’s mind.  _ The only thing in your way Wilbur, is your mind.  _

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome Wilbur Soot.” Karl, who was announcing, yelled. The crowd gasped as the snake lunged for the Slytherin only for the form of a boy to disappear. In its place was a small Nightingale. It flitted around the snake’s head, and the creature was completely unbothered. 

From the tent, Ari looked over to Philza in the teacher’s stand. He looked surprised, and a bit confused. Then the expression switched to frustration. Ari understood perfectly. She knew why Phil felt the need to hide Wilbur’s gifts. It made sense after what Phil’d been through when he went he was at Hogwarts. And Wilbur seemed to never understand that.

Wilbur had flown up above the snake’s head, getting to the blind spot of the serpent. In one swift motion he changed back into his human form, dripping down and plunging the sword straight through the creature’s neck before it could even react. 

“Well I suppose killing it counts as a win.” Karl said to the audience as Wilbur was usured away, granting Technoblade his entrance. The hybrid pulled out his wand, ready to face off against a Wampus cat. The creature was quite large, and it immediately began to prowl around. It let out a low growl, all six legs moving in tandem. 

Techno felt the attack on his mind first. The creature was known for legilimency, able to crippled wizard’s minds if they weren’t careful. Techno fought off the control, allowing him to easily dodge the cat’s first attack. Techno noticed the cat had pulled back halfway through the attack. He remembered reading about the creature’s ability to strategize.

“It knew I wasn’t affected.” Techno said to himself. He needed the cat to pounce at him all the way in order to cast a successful spell on it. The cat needed to completely commit to attacking him and let it’s guard down. He took a deep breath. This was gonna hurt. Techno let the cat in. He let it cloud his vision and confuse his mind. He allowed it to pounce on him and sink it’s claws into his gut. Techno just growled in defiance.

“PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!” could be heard from the crowd as they watched the cat fall over, completely paralyzed. Techno got up slowly, wand in one hand and the other wrapped around his gut where the cat’s claws had slashed him. Ari ran to his side, holding the younger up and helping him back to the tent. She took a glance up at the crowd and something didn’t add up. Philza looked like he’d just seen a ghost.

Tommy stepped out next. Even Ari had it in her to feel bad for the kid. For all the theatrics, the boy was shaking now, sword tight in his sweating grip. A menacing roar could be heard as a giant lion stepped out into the arena. It shook it’s main which showed gold in the sunlight. Ari looked back to see the boy grip the sword’s handle in position, ready to fight head on.

“Can we get a medic in here?” Ari asked as she set Techno down on a cot that had been set out for medical help.

“Still working with Wilbur, even with how careful he was he still got a bit of venom in himself.” Dream said from behind Ari, looking down at his gutted friend. “Can’t you just do it?” Ari’s gaze dropped to the floor.

“I- uh- I never went to school…” Ari mumbled.

“You have no idea how to heal people?” Dream asked.

“Not a clue.” Ari replied.

“Alright, alright out of the way.” The doctor growled as she shoved Ari and Dream away from Techno. “Damn people makin’ kids fight these things, can’t wait to see what the lion does.” Just then Ari and Dream heard the crowd gasp collectively, and the two walked over to poke out of the tent. Their eyes drifted over first a massive golden body strewn upon the ground, and then Tommy, both legs mangled. 

Before either could move Philza was onto the ground, wings spread wide as he landed and pulled out his wand. He rushed over to his son. Various healing spells muttered under his breath.  _ Vulnera Sanentur _ … _ Brackium Emendo _ … and more were cast. The boy was soon lulled into a half consciousness enough to be carried away. 

Finally there was Dream, who apparently had a plan, prepared to fight another Wampus cat. The creature walked out and immediately, already to size up it’s kill. Dream just smirk.

“Go ahead, take it all in.” he laughed as the cat analyzed. As it’s hind legs begin to twitch, ready to jump, Dream transformed. His neck lengthened and body began to contort and grow as scales coated his body. In place of a boy there was a dragon. The apex predator of the mountains. The cat cowered in fear, pressing against the wall at the sight of the creature. 

With one spray of fire the fight was over.

“Damn, you’ve been holding out on me now.” Ari said as Dream walked back in the tent. “Class is gonna get so much harder for you.” Dream faked sadness before stopping and looking Ari in the eye.

“Thank you.”

“What?”

“Thank you. Thank you for pushing me and making me better. I couldn't have done that even a month ago.” Dream said.

“Well that’s cute.” a monotone voice cut into the conversation. Techno had been mostly healed up and was standing fine, bandages around his ribs. “I guess we all move on.”

“Yeah, the clue will be given after everyone is healed for fairness or whatever, but regardless I’m proud of you idiots.” Ari said with a smile before leaving, not before catching a glance of Wilbur and Phil looking over Tommy. She could feel Wilbur’s mind buzzing.

After all, this was his fault.


End file.
